Combined plug and stopper.



F. J. FAIRGHILB. COMBINED PLUG AND STOPPER. APPLICATION FILED. MAY 23.I918.

mum: rnsks m, rnoro-unm wuwmamu n c FRED J. FAIIRGHILID, or DENVER,COLORADO.

COMBINED PLUG- AND STOPPER.

Specificatibn of Letters Patent. Patented Apr. 15, 1919;

7 Application filed May 23, 1918. Serial No. 22 ,135.

To all whom it may concern:

' Be it known that I, FRED J FAIROHILD, a citizen of the United States,residing at the city and county of Denver and State of Colorado, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements for Combined Plugs andStoppers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clearg-andexact description. of the inventiomsuch as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. Thisinvention. embodies an improved combined plug and stopper, and while forsimplicity of illustration it will simply be shown and described withreferenceto the type of overflow plug commonly used in bath and basinfittings, still it will be understood that the invention itself is notnecessarily limited to that specific use.

There aremany recognized objections to the means now generally employed,especially in hotels and othermore or less pub.- lic places, forstoppering such fixtures.

Where the usual chain attachment is dispensed with, or where, thestopper has become detached therefrom, the latter becomes misplaced orlost, and where such a chain is attached, serious unsanitary conditionsconstantly arise, endangering the health and frequently the eyesightofsubsequent users, by a prior improperuse of the fixture, re.- sultingin at leastfilthy' accumulations in the chain links or on the-stopperitself, if not an actuallydiseased contamination thereof.

Also the time and labor involved in installing such equipment create asubstantial item of expense, necessitating the drilling of holes forattaohing'bolts, and outside of the additional costs incurred, thisfeature alone makes it more diiiicultto finish oif the fixture with asmoothly coated enameled surface, as is well understood inmanufacturing. a

The broader aim of the present invention, therefore, is to provide afitting of this character, for overcoming the objections noted, as wellasbthers, and which is not only of simple construction, effective inaction, and comparatively inexpensive to manufacture and install, butwhich will also be maintained clean at all times by the flushing actionof all incoming fresh water.

With this prefacing statement, the full objects and advantages of theinvention will be apparent as incidental to the following P disclosure,but for a thorough understanding of th improvements reference will nowbe had to the accompanying drawings, illustrating a preferred embodimentof the several details of construction and assembled combination ofelements, in which drawings like reference characters designate the sameparts in the several views, of which-1 Figure 1, is a view inlongitudinal section through an overflow plug, as associated with a washbasin, the improved features being shown in elevation and in closedposition; Fig. 2, is a substantially similar view, with the valvestopper shown in opened position; Fig. 3, is a cross-sectional View,taken along the plane of the line 83 of Fig. 2, looking downwardly inthe direction ofthe arrow; Fig. 4, is a detail elevational view of theactuating stem, with the stopper proper,

and its embedded thimble sleev,e, shown 1D. central vertical section, toillustrate the manner of fixedly securing the actuating stem inrotatable relation therewith; and Fig. 5, is an analogous detacheddetail view of the stopper and its thimble sleeve bearing.

5 designates the bottom of a wash basin and 6 its overflow channel andchamber, with which is associated the hollow overflow plug 7, having theinlet openings 8, the plug being mounted and secured, relatively to thefixture and its drain trap pipe 9, through means of its circulartopflangelO, coupling unions 11 and 12, and interposed gasket washers l3and 14. p

'15, designates the usual cruciform member, below the inlet openings 8,to prevent any substantial foreign matter from entering the drain trappipe 9, all of these features and mountings being as heretoforegenerally employed, with the exceptionthat the cruciform member hereinis centrally bored, as with an aperture .16, to permit of the passagetherethrough of the actuating stem, hereinafter referred to, and alsofunctioning as a bearing support therefor.

This bored cruciform member might by itself prove to be a sufficientlysatisfactory guiding support for said actuating stem, but to make thesupport more practical, I prefer to mount a secondary cross bar bearing17, within said hollow plug, below said cruciform element, and which isalso centrally bored, as at 18, in vertical alinement they may bedrilled out while mounted in assembled relation within the hollow plug,

but also accommodating them fora slight rotation of the actuating stem,as the stopstem,.and preventing undue wear or binding of the parts.

19 designates the stopper proper, which as usual may be a beveled valveof rubber or its equivalent, but in my construction it is verticallyapertured to receive, in embedded relation, a fixed bored or drilledattaching member in the form of a short thimble sleeve20, having anupper and a lower circular flange or shoulder 21 and 22, to hold itsecurely in place, and an upwardly projecting tip extension,transversely aper- Itured, as at 23, to receive the ends of an operatinghandle ring 24 or the like, and thisfeature of the embedded drilledthimb-le itself and the manner of its connection with the actuatingstem, as will presently appear, are themselves considered to be noveldepartures.

l/Vithin this thimble 20,in the specific construction illustrated, thereis fitted the re.- duced upper end 25. of the shank portion 26 of.theactuating stem before ereferred to, and this reduced end passesclear through the thimb'le, being transversely apertured, as at 27, toregister with the aperture 23 of the latter, so that when the ends ofthe ring 24 are sprung into place the several parts are fixedly heldagainst independent displacement, the shoulder, formed by the shankportion 26 and reduced end 25, providing a lower abutment seating upagainst the lower flange .22 of the thimble. w In order to hold thestopper 19 in its elevated. position, when raised for opening, suitablefriction means must be provided between ,theactuating stem and itscentering and ,guiding support, and this frictional means should havejust a suflicient amount of resiliency to suflice for the purpose, whilestill permitting of the vertical reciprocation of the actuating stemwith a reasonably free sliding resistance.

I find that this may satisfactorily be accomplished by forming theelongated actuating stem so as to provide two outwardly spreading ordownwardly divergent arms 28, preferably of semi-circular contour incross section, which in themselves, when the metal is of a highlyresilient character, will doubtless furnish a suflicient wedgingspringiness. As shown in the drawings, this may be attained bybifurcating or longitudinally slitting the elongated lower portion ofthe actuating stem.

However, in some instances, it may be desirable .to form the lower ends10f the arms 28 with transversely disposed terminal ears, as at 29, towhich may be secured the ends of a divergently 'tensioned positivespringy section 30, although apparently this termi nal connection iimmaybe attached to or associated with the arms 28 otherwise thanthroughthespecific agency of the transverse ears 29.

Thus as the stopper is bei11g. raised,.the arms 28 vareforced towardeach other, in passing upwardly through the apertured guiding support17, against the slight diver gent tension of the springy part 30functioning, as will be apparent, to provide for the frictionalresiliency required for sup porting the stopper when so elevated, asshown in Fig. 2. The reverse movement-and spreading of the arms, inmoving 13116 stopper down into closed position, will be equ ly appa n asFig 1 n s- 'With the foregoing complete disclosure,

it is thought that any further description [of the operation would onlybe superfluousand .prolix, and while it will be understood that I do notmake any claims .to the broad idea of a mechani a y el va d an su poted. I

stopper, stillat the same time Itdo not limit myself ,to the exactdetails as set forth, en cepting as come within 13116 purview .of theensuing claims, when yiewedin the light .of the specification. andconficmplating a fair range of equivalents. s What I do claim, as newand patentable, 1s:-

1. The combination !O f a hollow plug; a r i yapert re guid uppo he n;an elongated actuating element, providing longitudinally spaced armsextending t u a d apertu ed sni e erpent, said arms V eing maintainedunder resilient tension .to spring outwardly into gsliding .frictionalengagement with the encompassing body portion of said guide support;.and.a stoppercarried at the-upper end -.of saidaes tuating element,substantially as described.

2. The combination of a hollow plug; a vertically apertured guidesupport therein; an elongated actuating element ,provieing o n ly di erng a ms, e ten n through said apertured guide support and intermediatelyjoined at .theirilower ends by a continuingv springy terminal bow pant,di-

iis

vergently tensioned for maintainingsaid arms in resilient slidingfrictional engagement, with the encompassing body portion of said guidesupport ;.and a stopper carried 1 at the upper end of said actuatingelement, substantially as described.

3. The combination .of a hollow plug; a vertically apertured guidesupport therein;

an elongated actuating element, providing downwardly diverging armsextending through said apertured guide support; a springy bow elementintermediately connecting the lower ends of saidarms and divergentlytensioned for maintaining said arms In resilient sl ding engagement withthe encompassing body portion of said guide support; and a stoppercarried at the upper end of said actuating element, substantially asdescribed.

4. The combination of a hollow plug; a stopper therefor having avertically drilled thimble sleeve embedded therein and provided with atransversely apertured tip extension projecting slightly thereabove; anapertured guiding support in said hollow plug; an elongated actuatingelement extending through said apertured guiding support in slidingresilient frictional association therewith, its upper end projectingthrough said thimble sleeve and having a transverse aperture adapted toregister with the aforesaid transverse aperture of said thimble sleeve;and a ring or equivalent handle element passing through said registeringapertures for'securing said thimble sleeve to said actuating element,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature.

FRED J. FAIRGHILD.

Gopies of this patent inay be obtained for five cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0.

